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Published: November 26th 2010
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Feldkirch, Austria to Innsbruck, Austria
Climbing over the Tyrolian Alps between Liechenstein and Innsbruck wasn't too hard if you did it my way. The good thing about being old is you've got an excuse not to strain yourself. Photo : FromTop of Tirolean Alps with the City of Innsbruck Below. Europe by Bicycle: Part V
Austria
First stop was the Innsbruck tourist information centre. I doubt if there
is a more considerate group of people in all of Europe.
I biked to a hostel about 4 km along the river.
There I shared a dorm room with three others. One was a 18 year old Mexican guy
who was training for a rock climbing competition in Scotland where he would
represent his country.
Another guy was a 22 year old German applying for a
university in Innsbruck. There's free tuition for Europeans he said. He grew up
in Saudi Arabia while his family worked there.
The third was an American travelling Europe
who was sponsoring his trip through an internet business.
Interesting people you meet in hostels.
Innsbruck Trekking the Alps.
I met a beautiful German woman at the hostel. She was going trekking with the
tourist board tomorrow morning 'for free'. I thought why not. I'll wear my sandals and if
it gets a little difficult I'll just turn back by myself. I figured
No Kangaroos??
This is something that plagues Austrians when they travel.
"Your from Austria? Oh, I know.....kangaroos!" a "free trek" must mean a little
walk on a trail around the outskirts. Wrong.
At 9am the next morning we ran to just catch the bus as it was pulling away.
The guide came out of the bus and looked at my sandals.
"You can't use those. Come with me."
He opened a door and there were all these expensive "above the ankle" hiking boots,
of different sizes. I figured, "What the hell, 'free' means you have to pay for something".
I got my size and then we went back to the bus.
There were only five of us in this large 40-seater luxury bus. We drove to a small
Alpine tourist
village nearby and the bus filled up.
Apparently each night you spend in a local hotel/inn there is a certain amount that is given to
the Tourist Bureau and with this they provide trekking tours.
The guides, Gerhardt and Wolfie divided us up into an easy-trek group and more difficult one.
Wolfie always brought his dog. Each pup from the dogs litter had a
name that began with "C". His dog's name was Clint, as in Eastwood, he said.
The
Trustworthy
Take a newspaper from under the plastic and leave €2. first day's trek was from Salzbach, at 1240m to Wettersteinhütte at 1717m.
Generally the rate of mountain hiking is about 350 m per hour for moderate pace.
At the end of the trip the guides asked sincerely, "Are you coming tomorrow? It's going to
be a beautiful trek up......
(some German named mountain)."
I went back everyday I stayed in Innsbruck.
There was a Finnish lady who took her annual vacation here and trekked every day...for free.
The people that work for the Innsbruck Tourist Board are among the nicest in the world.
Snow fell and covered the mountain tops two days before I got there.
Three German tourists went hiking and one fifty-year woman succumbed to hypothermia.
That was in August. The snow would melt before winter but it still caused some
trekking routes to be canceled for now.
Sunday was a lazy trek day. There was no bus, so only those who made it to the tourist
office in Innsbruck could go. There were three of us plus the guide. He took us up the
modern cable car (see photo) from the city centre and we spent a day walking about then down
the mountain.
We saw the source of water for the city which according to the guide is not treated and need not be before being used by the city.
As you go further south in Europe the people are more Catholic.
There are icons along the paths and even an elaborate church at the top
of one of the mountains.
side note:
McDonald's in Austria knows how to appeal to you.
If you're a kid they have little toys with the meals.
If you're an adult they have Beer and Red Bull.
McD's in Canada...take note.
AmEx travellers cheques and all others brands are difficult and expensive to cash throughout Europe.
Bank of Austria charges €12 per transaction.
Sparkasse Bank charges €7.50 per transaction.
Some countries like Luxembourg will not change travellers cheques no matter
what the AmEx website says.
Later on my trip in Munich, the AmEx office which was listed had not been there for the last three years.
From Innsbruck I planned to head north to Munich.
That seemed to be the best place to buy an airplane ticket back to Toronto.
I had only bought a one way
ticket to Europe because I wasn't quite sure how far I would get.
I had initially hoped to continue on The Danube River to the old Yugoslavia but even though the weather had improved in the
last little while I was getting tired riding a crippled bicycle.
Now, to get to Munich I could follow the Isar River in a large loop through the mountains separating Austria
from Germany or I could take a train for 20 miles
over the mountains and catch the river there.
Guess what I did.
I didn't even consider biking over the mountains. Next stop Mittenwald in Barvaria.
see next entry: Europe by Bicycle: Part VI
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Graciela
non-member comment
Austria
I also have good memories from Austria and mainly Innsbruck. You still have to see Argentine snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!